


What Happened to Thorin

by BairnSidhe



Series: The Breaking [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, F/M, Female Bilbo, Gen, M/M, Thorin has no sense of direction and it's going to get him killed one day
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-10
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-11 14:07:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3329120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BairnSidhe/pseuds/BairnSidhe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An extension of the world of For Better or Worse, this story explains where Thorin was and what he was doing.</p>
<p>Basically, Thorin gets lost and winds up with the Hobbit tribe and their Leader Bilba, Protector of the Shire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First off, I want to thank all the people who read For Better or Worse and chose to leave feedback. It was a truely outstanding number of people, at least for this little ficcer. 
> 
> So in no particular order, thanks to: WerewulfTherewulf, tesla_vampire, L_The_other_consulting_detective, Finduilas88, May (burninginsilence), baneofdurin, Summer, InvalidUser, PadBlack, jd22saloon, madbutterfly, Marrecarandgi, Nori_getashovel (vlh114), la_rousquille, Gothicgloomalex, FiliKiliThorinForever, maevre, tigrislilium, Astaraiche, DragonsQuill, Milliegirl21, and 8 guests for kudos.
> 
> And an extra special thanks to those who commented: tigrislilium, FiliKiliThorinForever, Astaraiche, DragonsQuill

Thorin did _not_ have a poor sense of direction, no matter what his sister said.  He simply preferred to have a map, or better still a person _with_ a map, to help him catch the turnoffs.  So, when the Company stopped to stretch their legs and relieve themselves, Thorin thought nothing of wandering off into the woods to be alone with his thoughts.  When he realized he had gone farther and been alone longer than he intended, he reckoned it would be easy to get back.  He just needed to turn and walk in the opposite direction.  Easy.

It was not easy.

<^>

Days later, thirsty, hungry, and exhausted, he collapsed in the doorway of a crumbling building that might once have been an inn.  He squinted at the sign that hung from a single chain.  Once, in the time Before, it might have been a horse, he decided.  Now it was worn close to shapeless, and what must once have been a foreleg had snapped off sharply.

Time passed, but he couldn’t say how much.  His eyes drifted shut, but not before he saw an old, bearded man in a tattered bathrobe of indeterminate color and cleanliness bending over him.  Thorin fought to stay awake, but his body’s needs had been neglected too long for it to answer his call.  Sleep claimed him and his last thought was that his sister would never let him live it down if he died at the hands of an ancient man in a bathrobe.

<^>

Bilba, Leader of the Hobbit tribe and Protector of the Shire, had thought it wise to invite the old man, who went by Gandalf Greyhame, to stay with them a while.  He was old enough that any of the Bounders could easily eject him if he did something he shouldn’t, and with age came wisdom.  He had many memories of the time Before, and some of what he said implied he knew what caused the Breaking.  Such knowledge was both valuable and rare.

But then, sometimes he did things that were strange, and possibly hazardous, and bordered on disturbing the peace.  Like hauling an insensate man into the heart of the Shire and demanding he be cared for, that he was important.  True, the rough, black-haired man looked like he was at death's door, and the Hobbit tribe was founded on ideals of fellowship and neighborliness, but he was also dangerous looking.  His hands had calluses on them, over the first finger, and across the knuckles.  He was a fighter, and he would have no idea where he was when he woke.

Bell Goodchild-Gamgee settled it by adopting the man as her project, holding him up to slip broth between his lips and bathing his body with a rag and warm water. Slowly he became conscious, tiny snippets of time where he seemed lucid.  He still called Bell "Dis" no matter how many times he was corrected, and as soon as his hands could move he made motions at his hair.  Bell washed and combed it of course, but he was still flapping at the strands with clumsy hands.

Bilba Baggins came to visit the Goodchild-Gamgee household one day a week after the man had been settled with them.  As the Leader, it was only right she share some of the burden.  Bell made a pot of mint tea and sat in the overstuffed chair in the corner of the sickroom, while Bilba attempted to coax some broth down the man's throat.

"Dis, where is Dis, where is she?" he demanded.

"Bell is in the corner, just there."  Bilba pointed to the chair where Bell had dosed off.  "Now just drink some of this nice broth..."

"That's not Dis."

"Well at least you've got that straight."

"Where is Dis?"

"I don't know, but I do know if you don't drink the broth you're going to get kicked into next week."  The man glared at her but took a sip of the broth.

"Where am I, then?  And who was the old man in the bathrobe?"

"You're in the Shire, a safe-zone maintained by us, the Hobbit tribe.  And the old man is named Gandalf Greyhame.  He's old and wise and a little bit nutters, and you owe him your life, along with Bell, so be respectful, and finish the broth she made you."  He growled a bit in his throat and oh if that didn't put a fire in Bilba's hearth.  She pushed the cup toward him, and he took it gingerly and took another sip.

"What's in this?"

"Rabbit meat and water, mostly.  We weren't sure you wouldn't choke on vegetables so Bell strained them out."

"Any herbs?" he asked skeptically, eyeing the broth.

"Of course there are herbs, you don't just throw bare meat and veg in a pot and call it good!  We aren't barbarians!"  Realizing a step too late that he might have come from a situation where herbs weren't an option, and she may have insulted him.  He didn't seem insulted, but he put the cup down on the stool beside the bed.  As he looked into her eyes, she suddenly flushed and in an attempt to get the conversation back on track, introduced herself.

"I'm Bilba Baggins, by the way."

"My name is Thorin Oakenshield, and I'd like to thank you for your help, but I really must get back to my friends."

"And that's fine with us, but I want to consult with Gandalf to see why he was so insistent that you be saved and what importance he thinks you have.  And then I think I'd like to assign you a Bounder guard to escort you back to your friends, as you clearly would just get lost again."  Thorin looked like he was about to protest, when he sighed and nodded.

"You sound like my sister.  But I _would_ also like to know what the old man thinks of me.  You  don't just haul strangers you find in the woods to your home.  I could have been a lunatic or a Troll."

"Lunatic, maybe, but Trolls reek of the fungus they use to get strong, and you don't.  Also you're too far from the mountains."

"How far did I go?  I was in the shadow of them when I got lost."

"Then, based on that and where Gandalf found you, I'd say you spent three days walking away from the mountains just to get as far as you did."

"I do better if I have a map to work from.  I'm not totally directionless."

"Well for the moment, you aren't going anywhere.  Finish the broth and rest a while.  When Bell says you can eat solid foods again we'll hold a Gathering at the Party Tree, see what Gandalf has to say."  She stood up, and he reached out a hand to clasp with hers, gently squeezing it with his rough, callused, dangerous fighter's hand.

"My thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Council of the Hobbit tribe is called and a Quest is arranged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My thanks to Pelopsa and GilornethTheGold for commenting, and to greasergirlalex, Gelflings_in_a_Tardis, Aziriel, GilornethTheGold, SeleneLunaire, ThymeTraveler, CuteLittleAnnie, imagination_sta, jgs22, qwikshot16, Silklightning_Seychelles, Pelopsa, and pythagoreanpineapple and the many guests who left me kudos. You guys rock!

It was a little over a week before Thorin was pronounced well enough for a Gathering. If he hadn't been so impressively muscled before his starvation and dehydration, he probably couldn't have walked to the Party Tree as he did. The Party Tree was an old gnarled oak with easily climbable branches that held the children of the Hobbit tribe, each holding a lantern, lighting the area under the tree as though it were day, although it was early evening and the sun was setting.

The Elders of the tribe were arrayed beneath the tree, with Bilba in the center. Bell helped Thorin to the chair that sat before the Elders, next to the chair that already held Gandalf. The adults of the community spread out blankets and some unfolded chairs and surrounded the two seated men.

"Gandalf Greyhame, you have brought this man, Thorin Oakenshield into our lands and we have listened to you for respect of your age and wisdom. But the time for riddles is over," the children in the tree tittered. Bilba ignored them, but a flush of color dusted her cheeks. "The time for answers has come. Answer us straightly, what do you know of this man, and what do you know of the Breaking?"

"Ehm. Well I say!"

"No posturing, Greyhame, I will not have it."

"The two questions are linked in their answers. Thorin himself is not known to me, but his father was. You look a great deal like him you know," Gandalf said to Thorin.

"I know. I have a picture of him."  It was one of Thorin and Dis's prized possessions.  Dis had it right now.

"Thrain was always very keen on security and secrecy for our group. The International Space Threat Analysis and Response Institute, or Istari, was founded to protect the earth from extraterrestrial threats, such as asteroids and solar flares. The five board members, of whom I was one, conceived a plan to ring the world in satellites that could detect threats and respond to them. One ring to find them all. But one of our own betrayed us, and turned the missiles intended to break apart asteroids on the Earth itself. His intent was blackmail, and for some countries, it succeeded, and he amassed a fortune in gold and gems and artwork He locked himself and his ill gotten gains in our Eastern mountain base. Only Thrain could open the door and Smaug knew it, so he lured him to his death." Gandalf paused and looked at Thorin. "I am sorry you had to hear of his death like this."

"He was off on business when the breaking happened. I knew in my heart he was gone. But I want to know about the Breaking."

"With Thrain dead, Smaug's fortress was safe, but it was not enough, he wanted power too. He wanted nothing but to be feared and respected. And that could not happen in a world that was whole. So he prepared in the fastness of the Lonely Mountain, and when the satellites detected massive solar flares that would decimate the world we lived in, then, he attacked the computer that controlled the satellites and turned off the pulses that would have countered the flare. The flare came, and the ice caps melted and the earth blackened and that might not have done us in, but Smaug had stolen a tool, we called it the Arkenstone, that disables electronics. Somehow he magnified it's power, though I do not know how. He used it on the world and all the tools and toys we depended on died. The world was remade and Smaug could build again a world he could be king of... And that is all I can say."

"But not all you know. You said Thorin was important, not that you knew his father."

"Thrain, as I said was very keen on security. He grew paranoid near the end... and as it turned out he was correct. He built a safeguard into the Lonely Mountain facility, that was DNA encoded."

"Was what?" asked Thorin, who had only been a child during the Breaking. Bilba managed to keep confusion from her face, but she too was curious. She was born into the Breaking, she did not have any memories of the things the old man spoke of.

"DNA is the essence of a person. Only Thrain or a direct descendent can open the special access point at the Lonely Mountain. To top it off, he hid the door to prevent it from being destroyed. I have a map, but it needs to be decoded by a cryptographer. If I am ever to enter the Lonely Mountain and destroy Smaug for his treachery I need Thorin, Thrain's only child."

Thorin decided to keep his mouth shut about Dis. She was conceived shortly before Thrain's death, so there was no reason this old, bitter man would know her, but Thorin wanted to keep it that way. He could tell that Gandalf was intent on using him to enter the stronghold of a powerful warlord, and that entailed a certain amount of danger, but Dis didn't need to be in danger too.

"So you have resolved to end the life of the one responsible for the Breaking?" asked an old woman with a sour face and a greedy glint in her eyes.

"Yes, Elder Lobelia I have. I wish to leave you all in good faith with Thorin and journey to the Lonely Mountain and set things to rights. I wish to deactivate the Arkenstone and restore the ability to rebuild on a global scale."

"You two alone cannot do this thing," decreed Bilba in an authoratative voice. "You must have help. Who here would go with them?"

"I will, I will!" came a voice from the tree's branches.

"Us too!" chorused three other voices from the branches and four tiny bodies holding lanterns leapt down, two boys and two girls.

"Frodo Baggins you are not of age, and furthermore, you are my heir. Samantha Gamgee, you are also not of age, and I need you here to keep an eye on Frodo. He's never half so reckless with you about. Pippin Took, you are also too young. Actually all of you are too young, but Pippin, you have a lot of growing up to do before you're fit for any kind of quest. Your courage is commendable, though. Mary Brandybuck, don't think I don't know you want to go only to get out of your punishment for stealing Farmer Maggot's crops. But also you need to stay for your family, they need you."

The four kids ducked their heads and climbed back into the tree.

"Any adult volunteers?"

A rough looking man with a bow stood forward. "Me'n the rest of the Bounders will take you as far as the border, but our job is here, and pardon my bluntness, but no-one who hasn't had Bounder training is suited for a journey beyond the Shire."

"Then the answer seems clear, only dear Bilba has had Bounder training without taking the oath," said the sour woman, Lobelia. "We can handle the care of the Shire, dear."

"But..."

"You go, Bilba. Fix the world, be a hero, just like you always wanted," she said maliciously.

"You know what Lobelia, I think I will. Tonight the Bounders will help us plan our route."

"My friends can help us, if we can get to Erid Luin."

"Then we are agreed."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me here: http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr, here: http://bairnsidhe.tumblr.com/
> 
> Remember, kudos are gold, and comments are made of mithril!


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